Shoreline Community College is keeping an eye on the long term while coping with the short term, according to President Lee Lambert.

And, at an all campus meeting, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011, Lambert and others touched on both.

In the short-run, Shoreline is working to deal with the potential for more budget cuts.Lambert said Gov. Chris Gregoire’s proposed budget that includes a 13 percent reduction in state funds is difficult. It might be manageable if the Legislature and voters also approve her plan for half-cent sales tax increase, Lambert said.

“The sales tax would fill in the cuts for higher education, but it would sunset in 2015,” Lambert said. “The tax increase is just a bridge, but it is one that can help us.”

That bridge could provide enough time for Shoreline’s two major initiatives, the virtual college and internationalization, to take hold, he said. “It may allow us to go back to the strategy I spoke about in September, that we just might weather these cuts, with some one-time money, to allow the initiatives time to become successful.”

Ann Garnsey-Harter, director of eLearning and chair of the Virtual College Implementation Team, presented an update on the effort.

Harter said the team is making headway on a number of issues, including: admissions, a common e-mail for students, orientation, advising, a new degree audit tool, a new financial-aid tool, a student communication tool that would use phone, e-mail and texting and new apps for mobile devices.

“Not all of this is ready for rollout to students,” Garnsey-Harter said. “But, we’re making progress.”

Lambert spoke about internationalization in place of International Education Executive Director Diana Sampson who was traveling on college business in China.

“Internationalization is not just bringing international students here,” Lambert said. “It is about increasing global awareness for all students, domestic and international.”